Mississippi St. gives Croom win in debut

Published 5:30 am, Sunday, September 5, 2004

STARKVILLE, MISS. - Jerious Norwood ran for 112 yards and a touchdown to lead Mississippi State past Tulane 28-7 Saturday night as Sylvester Croom won his first game as the Bulldogs' coach.

Mississippi State players held their helmets in hand, whooping and dancing around Croom, the first black coach in Southeastern Conference history, as the clock expired.

"Even on the bus ride over, I thought to myself, 'Twenty-eight years working toward this day, and now it's here,' " Croom said. "A dream that was an impossible dream at one time today was a reality."

Omarr Conner threw for 135 yards and a touchdown in his first start at quarterback for the Bulldogs, who scored on their first two second-half possessions to break a scoreless tie.

Mississippi State has a winning record for the first time since winning the 2001 opener against Memphis.

"Anything less than a conference championship or a national championship, I don't know if I could be much more proud of these guys because of how much they've grown up since last December," Croom said.

Tulane (0-1) closed to 14-7 in the fourth quarter on Lester Ricard's 59-yard touchdown pass to Chris Bush. But the Bulldogs countered on their next series, when Norwood's 43-yard off-tackle run set up Fred Reid's five-yard TD run to make it21-7.